Non-chewing diets and cerumen impaction in the external ear canal in a residential aged care population

Effects of Food Properties and Aging on External Auditory Canal Movements Associated With Mastication

Few objective evaluations of external auditory canal movement during mastication have been conducted. This study investigated the extent to which age and physical properties influence such movement. The effects of food properties and aging on ear canal movement during mastication were investigated using an earable reliable chewing-count measurement device. We used such a device to study the effects of food properties and aging on ear canal movement associated with mastication. A main effect of the difference in hardness between the foods (F = 8.3405, p = 0.0071) was found. No interaction (F = 1.3558, p = 0.2534) or main effect of age (F = 1.1206, p = 0.2982) was found. The values for peanuts were higher than those for pudding. Age had no significant effect. For both pudding and peanuts, there was a trend toward greater ear canal movement in young adults than in older adults. We suggest that external auditory canal movement during mastication decreases as muscle function declines with aging, but any effect may be less than that exerted by food properties.